Rebuilding Courage
by Vilio
Summary: Glorfindel's wife has a secret past, that is until eight cloaked strangers suddenly appear in the middle of the Imladris courtyard one morning seeking sanctuary.


I do not own either of the books used for this story.

AN; I am not Vilio, but am using her account to write stories, and reviews are still appreciated.

Chapter 1

Putting his book down carefully, Lord Elrond stood and stretched. He had become so absorbed in his reading he hadn't realized how late it had actually become. Extinguishing the light from the few candles that lit the room, he walked from his office in the direction of his chambers, intent on getting at least a few hours of sleep before dealing with the everyday pressures and responsibilities of governing a realm. Reminding himself of this, he quickly became lost in the ever growing mental list of tasks and duties, he almost missed a slender figure with silver blond hair rush down the opposite end of the corridor and disappear around a corner.

The elf lord had distinctly heard the quick footsteps of the person on the stone floor and immediately knew it to be the only human female currently residing in the Last Homely House. Picking up his pace he caught up with her half way through the courtyard gardenand proceeded to follow silently for a moment before letting her know of his presence by grabbing her arm lightly. The distressed looking woman had been deep in thought and started at the sudden appearance of the dark haired elf lord.

Elrond frowned lightly at the worried expression on the woman's pretty face. "Forgive me for startling you my lady, but it is very late, what are you doing roaming the halls at this hour?"

Guiltily the woman looked at the ground before returning his gaze, her face showing increasing distress nearing panic. "I apologize for disturbing you my lord, but I am on my way to see my husband, I know that he is still working and there is an urgent matter I need to speak with him on."

Elrond stared at her intently, for a moment the elf lord could have sworn that he had seen the woman's eyes flash a bright crimson for the barest of moments. His curiosity regarding this new discovery was quickly pushed to the back of his mind as he noticed the state the woman was in. He had known the woman before him for well over two hundred years, and had only once seen her worried and that had been over the report that a band of orcs had attacked the party of elves her daughter had been traveling with to Mirkwood.

The Imladris lord smiled reassuringly down at the woman. "I will escort you to Glorfindel's study," he said, his eyes continuously searching hers as if trying to find some hint or clue about the seemingly always mysterious woman, and her now current emotional state. "Everything is well I hope?"

She averted her eyes from his gaze before answering quietly. "I-I am not sure yet."

"Well, whatever the dilemma may be, I am sure you will find a solution for it. Come." And with that he offered her his arm as he escorted her to the building at the other end of the courtyard which housed the elf of Gondolin's study.

The two walked together the rest of the way in silence, and when they arrived in the Balrog slayers study only moments later they found the poor elf still buried behind a seemingly never ending mountain of paperwork.

"Eru Glorfindel, can you not ask Erestor for help if you so desperately need it?" Elrond asked looking around at the mountains of paper that covered almost every available space in this study.

"I did," came a disgruntle reply, "and the disaster before you is a result of that help." The golden haired elf sighed as he looked up, and for the first time noticing that his wife was standing silently beside the dark haired half-elven lord.

"Meleth?" He asked, quickly standing. "I though that you would already be sleeping by-"

Forgetting Elrond's presence in the room Glorfindel's human wife quickly rushed forward interrupting him. "Glorfindel the stones!" She stated urgently, extending her arm in front of his face, and revealing the bracelet adorning it that she never removed. "The stones, they have all darkened!"

The golden haired elf was silent for a moment as concern began to flood his normally always calm features. He gently took her wrist to inspect the stones closely and just as his wife had stated all of the usually brightly colored stones had darkened and were now near black in color. Only one stone's color remained strong and bright pink. He disregarded this stone however knowing full well it was the one signifying the life force of the woman standing before him.

"What does this mean? He murmured. "Surely they can not all be dead?"

The platinum blond woman shook her head sadly, the strong emotions she felt allowed her control over her speech to slip and her old heavier accent to reappear for the first time in nearly two centuries. "I do not know. I must go back. They may need me."

"My love you have been here for nearly two hundred and fifty years, only one blood stone was made that night before we returned to Middle-earth and you still have it in your possession." He paused momentarily as if trying to figure a way to word the next phrase. "The others could simply be dying of old age."

Glorfindel internally winced, immediately regretting the brash wording that he had chosen, noticing his wife's eyes flash red briefly as the distressed look on her face changed to one of anger. The golden haired elf knew that if she did not calm down a possible transformation could occur in front of Elrond. The heritage of his wife was one of the many other things about her that they had kept secret from his long time friend, and he did not relish the idea of having to explain it to the sometimes short tempered elf lord.

Glaring at her husband, Glorfindel's wife began to swear in French under her breath while clenching her hands into tight fists and trying to get a grasp on her emotions. When she had managed to become sufficiently calm she addressed her husband icily.

"All of them dying at the same time, Glorfindel!" She hissed. "Impossible! You know that it is not unheard of for my people to reach a great age even if unassisted by magic!"

Elrond had remained passive through out the conversation until this point. The Rivendell lord was one of the few that knew a little about Glorfindel's wife's strange origins, though what he knew was somewhat limited. The only one who truly knew of her besides her husband and daughter was Gandalf.

When first meeting her and at other random times throughout the years, Elrond had sensed a small hint of magic coming from the woman, though very faint, it was as if it were being somehow suppressed. He had quickly blown this off as a strange characteristic of her people, and then when the matter of her not aging had arose soon after; he had quickly credited it off to the same explanation. Also knowing that one of the discoveries after Glorfindel's return was that time where she was from seemed to pass by much slower then in Middle-earth. Thinking that these facts were enough justification for the strange woman, Elrond had not thought to pursue the matter further.

Never once did the thought that she had the power to manipulate the passage of time cross his mind. Not even the Istari themselves were capable of such a feat, and the fact that a human woman wielded that much power unnerved him. Over his many years he had witnessed what power could do andhad donein the hands of man, and all of it was disheartening.

Still slightly shocked and puzzled over Glorfindel's wife last outburst, the Rivendell Lord came out of his disturbing thoughts and threw his seneschal a questioning look.

Knowing that Elrond had not missed his wife's slip, Glorfindel chose that exact moment not to look at the dark haired elf, and avoid the look that he knowingly was receiving. Instead he approached his wife and held her in an embrace trying to soothe her. "I will send for Mithrandir in the morning, maybe he will be able to shed some light. This development may have nothing to do with their health and everything to do with the darkness spreading throughout the land. It may be what is affecting the stones."

The suggestion of the Istari, as always, seemed to quiet her a bit. Glorfindel knew she felt a connection with the Istari, and it more than likely had something to do with the old wizard being as close as she could get to being near one of her own kind.

Making a mental note to question his old friend about the potentially dangerous amount of power that his wife possibly wielded at a later date, Elrond took advantage of the lessening tensions between the two and spoke to the blond woman currently leaning into Glorfindel's chest.

"I am sending word to Thranduil in the morn regarding his new alliance with Lorien, would it please you if I had the twins to collect Cime at that time and bring her home? It has been a few years since you saw her last saw your daughter, maybe a visit from her would help."

Glorfindel looked up and nodded to his friend. "Yes, thank you Elrond, having Cime here would help immensely."

* * *

The bright, unusually warm summer day had drawn many of the elves out early in the morning, several of them hoping to finish their jobs and tasks early in order to enjoy the rest of the day pursuing more leisurely hobbies. All of the elves seemed content with all that the day seemed to hold for them… all except one. 

Lord Elrond had received little sleep after the conversation with Glorfindel and his wife. His mind kept going over thewhat he had learned regarding the woman, and the fact that one of his closest and most trusted friend had kept secret. What else had been hid from him? Was Gandalf aware of the possible power that this woman wielded? With the friendship the two shared he did not doubt it.

The thought of the Istari knowing the situation calmed him somewhat. If Glorfindel's wife had been dangerous surely the wise old wizard would know.

Elrond had decided to wait for Glorfindel to discuss this matter, but as the morning wore on and the golden haired elf still had not approached him. Patience he had decided last night would be the calm level headed response befitting a wise elf lord such as himself, but due to his sleepless nights, brought around by the growing threat from Mordor, his long forgotten human blood seemed to have surged to the surface, causing his disposition to be slightly more rash and volatile making the urge to pull rank and force the Balrog Slayer to spill the truth about everything, at sword point if need be, start to sound reasonable.

Deciding to throw off his responsibilities for the rest of the morning, the dark haired elf lord headed toward the great house, glaring balefully at those that he past and nearly snarling at poor elf that had the misfortune to cross his path, the Rivendell lord stalked into his study, hoping to find peace solitude and maybe even a nap.

Locking the door behind him he threw himself into an armchair and attempted to find some rest.

His attempt was short lived, because not even a minute later he heard shouting coming from outside. Swearing to the Valar in all the languages he knew, he rushed back outside to see what all the commotion was about.

Upon his arrival in the center square he froze. In the middle ofthe squarestood a group of heavily cloaked people, completely surrounded by his guards, who were rapidly firing arrows at the intruders.The arrows never hit their intended targets since the strange group seemed to be protected by some sort of barrier, making each of the arrows bounce harmlessly off.

Noticing one of his captains barking out commands to the other elves, Elrond approached him.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"My Lord, these intruders suddenly appeared without warning, inside the gates," he said disbelief and a bit of awe still evident on his face. "It was as if they came out of the very air itself!"

"The gates were not open?"

"No my lord, they had been closed after Lords Elladan and Elrohir's party left earlier this morning. There was only a load cracking noise before their arrival, and suddenly they were there."

Absorbing this information Elornd quickly yelling out for the archers to cease fire, and stop wasting arrows, before he proceeded to approach the group. The elven guards, still apprehensive about the strangers, moved protectively to his sides. Commanding them to step back the Rivendell lord took a few more steps and paused just outside the edge of the barrier.

Elrond eyed the group wearily and quickly tried to ascertain whether or not they were a threat. The strange intruders calmly stood there under his intense scrutiny, none of them made to approach or speak, as if waiting for him to finish his judgment. He had noted earlier that there were seven adult figures, one of which seemed to be holding a small child that was also hidden underneath a heavy cloak. Three of the group carried large birds on their arms and shoulders, a pure white owl, a deep black raven, and the third birdlike creature was something that he had never before seen. This one larger than the other two, had brilliant orange, red and yellow feathers that almost seemed to be flames, and it stared at him intently with what seemed a high level of intelligence.

He then looked to the figure carrying the birdlike creature. For some reason he had the impression that this was the leader of the group. The other stood behind him and seemed to be waiting to follow his lead, this was the one that he decided to address. "Who are you and what business do you have in Rivendell?"

The figure he addressed stepped towards him stopping just before the edge of the barrier. "We mean you no harm and carry no weapons." A feminine voice spoke in slightly accented Sindarin "We wish only to speak with either the lord of this realm or to the Lord Glorfindel."

Lord Elrond's response to the woman was cut off when he was interrupted by a loud cry of surprise coming from the area of the great house. All the elves, and the strangers as well, paused to look in the direction of the sound.

On one of the second story balconies stood Glorfindel's wife, still clad only in her dressing robe wide eyed with a hand covering her open mouth in disbelief. In less time then it took an elf to blink the woman had disappeared from the balcony, immediately reappearing with a sharp cracking sound in front of the intruders and Elrond.

This stunt elicited several gasps and murmurs from the elves in the surrounding area. Elrond stood stunned, too amazes by this sudden feat to even think.

Completely oblivious to the murmuring around her the woman took a shaking step forward towards the group as if she were afraid her approach would scare them off. Another cloaked figure stepped out and stood next to the one who had first spoken to Elrond.

Tentatively Glorfindel's wife reached out her hand as if to touch the two cloaked figures in front of her. "Hermione… Eponine?" She whispered questioningly, looking from one to the other, as if she were still unsure of what she saw before her.

Both figures pulled back their hoods of the cloaks, revealing a pretty brown haired human woman and beautiful black haired elleth. The elleth quirked a small smile at the still slightly shaking blond woman in front of her.

"Hi Fluer, sorry we're late."

* * *

I am not quite sure were to place this story, it could go to either, and if I decide to write a prequel it would more likely go under HP… Anyway so far it seems that the most fitting place is in the book crossover section. 


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